This invention generally relates to apparatus and devices for providing postural support to humans, and, more particularly, to a device adapted for mounting on the side rail of a bed frame for assisting a person to get into and out of bed.
Among the many people who sometimes require assistance in getting into and out of bed are back pain sufferers who frequently experience excruciating pain, especially when lowering the upper torso the last eight or nine inches when getting into bed or raising the upper body the first eight or nine inches when trying to get out of bed. Experience has shown that the pain persists regardless of whether the attempt is made while lying on the side, on the back or on the stomach.
Often, the solution may be to rent an adjustable hospital bed by which the upper and lower torso can be raised out/or lowered, and which usually have an overhead trapeze which can be grasped for further assistance in maneuvering the body. However, because of the central placement of the trapeze relative to the edges of the bed it offers little help, and may actually interfere with the patient's attempt to lift the upper body and at the same time throw the legs over the edge of the bed to rest the feet on the floor. Moreover, a hospital bed in the home is anathema to elderly people, believing it would suggest to family and friends that the person's condition was more serious than is actually the case. Furthermore, it is costly to rent a hospital bed, and many insurance plans will not reimburse for more than three month's rental, factors which may lead to further patient anxiety.
Thus, a need exists for a low cost support device for assisting a patient with back pain to get into and out of bed. A straight forward technique which sometimes helps to ease the pain is to keep a quadruped cane at the bedside which because of its broad base provides a relatively stable structure which the patient can grasp for support and pull his or her upper torso up or down to assist while getting out of or into bed. However, because the lower end of the cane is not firmly anchored, its stability and, therefore, its effectiveness as a postural support, is limited. Since most people experience medical or nonmedical aging problems only periodically, and, therefore, do not require assistance at all times, the conventional quadruped cane offers the advantage that the patient can easily stow it away when not needed and return it to the bedside when he or she decides that support is needed. This is of importance to older people, most of whom aspire to live as independently as possible in their own homes, and who may be embarrassed by anyone seeing a device parked by the bedside, believing it would reveal his or her infirmity to family and friends.
A device which performs a function similar to that provided by a cane is manufactured by Arco Products, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and marketed under the trademark "ARCORAIL". It consists of a cane, one end of which rests upon the floor and is attached to the side rail of an angle iron bed frame to support it vertically. The cane is secured to the bed by a clamping system which includes a bar that extends across the bed and is clamped at opposite ends to the opposing side rails. The length of the bar is adjustable to accommodate use of the device on single, double or queen size beds. The cane is telescopic for convenient height adjustment.
While the ARCO device would appear to provide the desired assistance, it has the serious disadvantage that once installed on the bed it i s plainly visible, possibly causing embarrassment to the patient for the reasons discussed earlier, and, moreover, may actually interfere with the patient's arising from the bed during times when assistance is no longer needed. Also, the mounting bracket system is relatively cumbersome and heavy, weighing approximately eleven pounds, and therefore costly to manufacture and distribute.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a support device for assisting a patent transfer to or from a bed which is adapted for attachment to a side rail of a bed and sufficiently low in cost to be affordable for patients to purchase instead of rent.
Another object is to provide a support device for assisting a patient while lying down or getting up from bed which would obviate the above-described shortcomings of available devices.
Another object of the invention is to provide a device adapted for easy attachment to a bed for providing assistance to a patient while getting into or up from the bed and which a patient can easily stow out of sight of others when not in use.
Yet another object is to provide a device for assisting a patient transfer to or from a bed which is lightweight yet sturdy, and can be manufactured at relatively low cost.